Join poet, educator, and editor Jan Freeman for the Fall 2025 Writing Through Art Poetry Retreat at MASS MoCA, The Clark Art Institute, and the Williams College Museum of Art. A generative-writing experience at the largest contemporary art museum in the U.S., and at the two jewels — the Clark and WCMA — which include paintings, prints and sculptures from classical art, Impressionism, and Post Impressionism.
Poets gather for the fall 2024 MASS MoCA Writing Through Art Poetry Retreat
Poets from around the country and around the world form a supportive community to create dozens of new drafts and poems while experiencing the many ways that visual art opens inspiration, perception, memory, and language. The expansive 5-day writing retreat will culminate in a poetry reading at The Artist Book Foundation, located on the MASS MoCA campus in North Adams, Massachusetts.
Through daily prompts, exercises, readings, and discussions, we will explore new ways of expressing ourselves, heightening our use of metaphor and surprising details in our writing. Morning workshops take place in the galleries of MASS MoCA, the Clark Art Institute, and the Williams College Museum of Art. Afternoons and evenings are free to explore autumn in the beautiful Berkshires. Or to sit beside the meditative reflecting pool at the Clark.
A one-hour private consultation focusing on your individual poems and writing goals is included. In-depth manuscript consultations can be scheduled separately for an additional fee.
Reading a draft aloud in MASS MoCA’s Prow
Immerse yourself in writing and reading poetry, surrounded by an eclectic, supportive creative community and extraordinary classical, modern, and contemporary art that invites a life-changing, expansive oasis in the restorative environment of autumn in New England.
Writing in response to Anselm Kiefer, The Schechina
Jan Freeman and poets reading drafts and discussing writing through the body in the Prow at MASS MoCA
“I loved being immersed in the art and having this in-person experience. Access to MASS MoCA and the Clark was wonderful. The writing prompts and exercises helped to reinforce the associative connections between art and writing, and I appreciated hearing the first drafts of other poets. Often we only get a day at a museum. But this retreat afforded us all the wonderful opportunity to come back to the exhibits, and spend much more time in the galleries. Many of my drafts became finished poems that are now included in my new poetry manuscript.”
“Jan Freeman’s poetry residency at MASS MoCA offered a unique opportunity. We spent our days writing in our studios and in museum galleries, inspired by the art work before us. Jan provided excellent writing prompts that opened me up to my imagination and to new discoveries. For me, the concentrated writing time gave me a chance to go deeper into my poems, my emotions. I learned so much from Jan’s teaching and guidance and from connecting with other poets.”
“The MASS MoCA Writing Through Art Poetry Retreat exceeded my expectations and gave me sustenance, helping me recognize the necessity of poetry in my daily life and how visual art can help generate new inroads to poetic ideas and daring.
My conference with Jan might be my favorite part of a retreat filled with favorite parts. Her comments about my poems were encouraging, generous, and aimed at considering my goals and where I am now as a poet. I also was impressed with Jan’s unusual prompts, exercises, and her talks about poetry and writing. And I loved the poems she brought for us to read together, which offered new and exciting sources of inspiration.”
Group poetry reading at the Artist Book Foundation
Cost and Accommodations
Included:
Welcome gathering on afternoon of arrival, October 9.
Daily workshops in museum galleries.
1-hour individual conference to discuss selected poems and/or writing goals.
Group poetry reading at the Artist Book Foundation on the MASS MoCA Campus.
Accommodations:
Participants are responsible for room and board during the October retreat. A variety of Vrrbo and Airbnb accommodations are available. Hotels can be found at https://berkshires.org/business-directory/hotels and https://massmoca.org/visit/stay/. A Hotel Downstreet poetry group discount will be posted in June or July.
Extras:
The Berkshires in the fall is a haven for leaf peepers, autumn festivals, hiking, and other outdoor activities. Enjoy the area’s extensive walking trails and visit the Berkshire Botanical Gardens, Naumkeag Gardens, The Norman Rockwell Museum, Edith Wharton’s home, The Mount, and The Berkshire Theatre Group.
Cost:
$700. Limited financial assistance is available.
Questions? Contact: Jan Freeman at janfreemanpoetry@gmail.com.
Sign up with your poetry friends for a rich and memorable creative experience.
Apply
Please fill out the application below, including three poems and a brief statement of interest and bio. Registration is open until the retreat is full, with a limit of 10 poets. Experienced and new poets are welcome. For additional information, contact Jan Freeman.
Writing in response to Odilon Redon’s “Woman With a Vase of Flowers” at the Clark
Please share this information with your poetry friends and sign up together for a memorable poetry holiday!